What to Know
- President Donald Trump’s hotel in Washington, D.C., is set to rake in big bucks on Election Day.
- Trump’s campaign is scheduled to host a party at the Trump International Hotel on election night. Rooms at the 263-room hotel are sold out that night, according to the hotel’s website.
- It’s not clear whether the president himself will attend the festivities at the hotel. He said Friday that he has not decided where he will spend the evening.
President Donald Trump’s hotel in Washington, D.C., is set to rake in big bucks on Election Day.
Trump’s campaign is scheduled to host a party at the Trump International Hotel on election night. Rooms at the 263-room hotel are sold out that night, according to the hotel’s website. When CNBC reached out to the hotel Friday morning, a reservation specialist confirmed there were no rooms available for that night.
While the employee could not determine how much the rooms were going for, the rates for the days preceding and following the night in question offer some clues. On Friday and Saturday, standard guest rooms are going for over $1,000 per night, and the more expensive suites are going for just under $2,000. For days immediately following Nov. 4, the rates start at just over $635.
It’s not clear whether the president himself will attend the festivities at the hotel. He said Friday that he has not decided where he will spend the evening and suggested the event could be moved to the White House.
Nonetheless, Trump’s campaign has prodded donors to give some cash and win a chance to be at the hotel on election night.
“I’ve arranged with my team to fly one of my BEST SUPPORTERS to Washington, DC to join Team Trump at the Election Night Party in my favorite hotel,” a recent email to supporters says, while asking them to contribute to the campaign.
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Critics have questioned how the hotel will be able to pull off a party given the coronavirus pandemic and Washington’s restrictions on gatherings.
The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and the Trump Organization, which is currently being run by the president’s older sons, did not return requests for comment.
While it’s unclear how much the Trump campaign paid for the event itself, the president’s political organizations and allies have already given a boost to the commander in chief’s hotel properties.
From mid-August through early October, the Trump campaign spent close to $210,000 on what Federal Election Commission filings describe as “lodging” throughout the Trump Hotel Collection.
Between Trump’s campaign and his joint fundraising committees with the RNC, Trump properties have made over $17 million since his 2016 run for president, according to data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
CRP data shows that in August, the RNC paid at least $200,000 for space at Trump’s hotel in Washington.
But it’s not just Trump’s campaign that has given his hotel businesses a jump in profits.
A report by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington shows that special interest groups have likely spent more than $13 million at Trump’s business since he took office. Estimates by CREW show that over 130 special interest-linked events were hosted at Trump’s properties. These industries ranged from private prison contractors to payday lenders, CREW says.
This story first appeared on CNBC.com. More from CNBC:
